Around the world in 15 months: Adventures Overland

What led to the birth of Adventures Overland and how thrilling was it to expand the company?

Sanjay and I were on the same page for different records in the Limca Book of Records, and that’s how I got to know him. We realised that we shared a passion for road-trips and that’s when we did a few–realising how there was a huge gap in the Indian market for these trips.

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To start with, what incident or thought made you want to start your engines and travel the entire world? Or was it an impulsive decision to just do something as crazy as that?

We wanted to do something extraordinary and since no Indian had travelled the world on wheels, we wanted to be the first ones. A lot of sponsors rejected us because they felt we wouldn’t come back alive! But we started on the 2nd of September 2013 from India Gate and eventually ended up travelling 6 continents!

How much did the entire journey cost you? Was the trip sponsored?

We travelled for 15 months, which included 6 continents, 50 countries, which is roughly 19k kilometres. It costed us a bomb though. ₹ 5 Crores!

What was the weirdest dish you ate in all of the 6 continents that you visited?

We ate a kangaroo! In Africa there’s a very famous restaurant called ‘Carnivore’ on the Narrow Beach. We had crocodile meat and even ox balls over there. In South America, we had a guinea pig. Sanjay ate two!

Do you have a favourite place out of all the 6 legs you completed?

South America! The people are very welcoming and warm there. The scenic beauty is incredible. It was also the most challenging place but, at the same time, most exciting and memorable.

Tell us about your most memorable ‘out of your comfort zone’ experience?

There’s a road called the Death Road in Bolivia. It is ranked the world’s most dangerous road because of the max number of casualties. Cars have fallen off that road, people have died. Driving on that road has to be the most uncomfortable time of our lives.

What kept you guys going when you realised you had lost your way, since you weren’t using any GPS?

After doing this trip, we realised not using a GPS was a good idea because we connected a lot with the local people all over the world. Of course, we couldn’t afford to miss a turn. But we made a few good friends and sometimes people even invited us over for lunch/dinner even if there were language issues.

Did you guys collect any souvenirs from these places?

We have a collection of all the currencies from all 50 countries and pictures of the friends that we made. There’s even a painting we have that is entirely made of rubies!

What was the first thought that came to your mind when you were flagged off from India Gate and finally began your journey?

When we started, it felt like we were doing just another road-trip. If we thought of going all around the world, we would have probably freaked out. The day we started to see different cultures, we realised how far we were from home and actually on around-the-world road trip. It hit us then.

Of course, it’s not always rainbows and unicorns, in a traveller’s life. What are the worst misconceptions or myths that you’ve come across about travellers?

No really about travellers as such but there are a few misconceptions about Indians though. All around the world people think we Indians have a lot of food restrictions. Except that we don’t. I mean we ate kangaroos and guinea pigs, for crying out loud!

What is the funniest or out-of-theworld thing you came across during your journeys?

What was funny was that since we had a Delhi number plate and we were Indians doing a world trip, we were invited for lunch or dinners by the locals all the time. We even got a 22-day free stay in Africa.

Tell us about any scary or near death experiences…

One time in Bolivia, our car drowned in the river and we had to call a tractor to get it out because our car was sinking slowly. There were times in Argentina where for 4-5 hours at a stretch we couldn’t see even a single human being. Driving through snow storms in Alaska and on black ice, that was challenging and I would say we got scared. We overcame it. (Laughs)

Did you get into trouble on any of your adventures?

In Chile, Sanjay was unloading the car to keep our things in the hotel and there was a guy who was frantically moving his hands as if it was an emergency. So I ran to him thinking something’s seriously wrong, without locking the car. When we returned, we didn’t even realise that some of our bags as well as the camera bag were gone. All that was worth ₹ 3 Lakhs... stolen.

Throughout your world trip, you meet a plethora of people. Any memorable or offbeat family or person that you came across?

There was a lady we met in Santa Barbara, LA. Since our car has a lot of stickers from all the places we travelled, a very peculiar woman noticed us and signalled to speak to us. She told us that she followed some Indian Guru who had an ashram somewhere in a very posh part of LA. She almost forced us, taking us off track and route, to go to that ashram. She even accused us of being negative people when we refused to go with her!

Did you get to meet any celebs as well?

We met the SRKs and Karan Johars of Myanmar. It was lovely meeting the film industry people there. We even met a famous wrestler, called Shocker, in Mexico.

In all of the countries that you visited, did you come across any which were politically tensed? Tell us something about it.

We were planning to go to the Middle- East, but we missed that entire patch because it was politically tensed. In our route, the countries which we went to, they were politically stable.

Did you find any country more corrupt than India?

Yeah! Absolutely! There’s a lot of corruption in Africa. Especially in Kenya. Once we had to take a U-turn and these two policemen came and put their guns to our heads, almost ready to kill us. Of course those guys weren’t policemen and were trolling us. Luckily the bribe came down to $5 from $2000. All this, just for taking a U-turn!

Since you had a car with a Delhi number plate, how difficult was it to get it into some countries? What were the procedures?

We faced a lot of difficulty in Australia. Those guys don’t even allow a single dust freckle to come into their country! Australia is a little messed up, though. Once we were driving and then we got hit by a kangaroo. Just the night before we ate one. Turns out Karma isn’t a bitch, it’s a kangaroo!

What advice can you give to those who want to travel fulltime but are afraid to take the leap?

Follow your passion! Our passion as travellers is our business. To experience the diversity of mother-nature with all five senses, that’s travel for us. Allow it to transform you as a person.

From the September 2015 issue of FHM India.